Waikato Business News October/November 2022
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.
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6 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, OCTOBER/NOVEMBER <strong>2022</strong><br />
What the ‘sustainability’ word<br />
means at Fosters<br />
Sustainability is trending. It’s a word that is bandied<br />
about in business, politics and everyday life by just<br />
about everyone. Yet, real commitment to<br />
sustainability is not evident everywhere.<br />
According to Thinkstep, the construction industry is<br />
one of the primary contributors to climate change in<br />
NZ, creating 20% of national greenhouse gas emissions.<br />
Aware that their industry produces 40 - 50%<br />
of NZ’s landfill waste, Fosters’ leadership team believe that<br />
just because this is ‘industry standard’ does not mean it is<br />
necessary.<br />
As the only construction company to hold both of Toitū’s top<br />
sustainability certifications, Fosters commitment to environmental<br />
sustainability is proven through their daily operations.<br />
The following commitments and initiatives implemented by<br />
Fosters offer cleaner, more transparent, low-emissions builds:<br />
• Fosters Toitū carbonzero certification demonstrates<br />
they are positively contributing to the environment by measuring,<br />
reducing, and offsetting their carbon footprint. They are<br />
audited annually under international standards.<br />
• Fosters Toitū enviromark diamond certification<br />
demonstrates they have systems in place to reduce the environmental<br />
impact of the business and the buildings they<br />
construct.<br />
• Fosters have the expertise to ensure green builds are<br />
adaptable and durable, meeting the requirements of future generations<br />
and creating healthier work environments – gaining<br />
4+ Green Star certifications.<br />
At Fosters, sustainability means operating in a way that<br />
meets the needs of today whilst also ensuring future generations<br />
will be able to meet their needs.<br />
Misconduct Outside of Work –<br />
What can Employers do?<br />
Managing misconduct that occurs within the workplace can<br />
be challenging. Procedural requirements must be met and<br />
any disciplinary action must be lawfully justified. When<br />
the misconduct occurs outside of work, things get even trickier. With<br />
the silly season soon upon us and people starting to wind down after a<br />
busy year, now is commonly the time when issues arising from bad or<br />
impaired judgment start to increase. The question many employers<br />
often ask is whether they can do anything to address an employee’s<br />
bad behaviour if it did not occur at work but in the employee’s<br />
personal life? The short answer is, like most things, it depends on<br />
the circumstances.<br />
The starting point is that employees have the right to privacy and<br />
to be able to live their lives as they choose outside of work. However,<br />
when bad behaviour in an employee’s personal life can in some way<br />
be connected to their job or could impact their employer’s business or<br />
reputation, an employer is entitled to get involved and take reasonable<br />
action. If there is a lack of connection between the misconduct<br />
and the employer’s business and the employee has just done something<br />
an employer does not approve of, this is unlikely to justify disciplinary<br />
action.<br />
Employers should ask the following when deciding whether they<br />
can do anything about misconduct occurring outside of work:<br />
• Is the conduct incompatible with the job the employee does?<br />
• Does the conduct impact other employees?<br />
• Could the conduct impact on the employer’s trust and<br />
confidence in the employee?<br />
If after asking these questions an employer can determine there<br />
is a link between the employee’s behaviour and their employment,<br />
then an employer is entitled to commence an investigation or a disciplinary<br />
process. For example, an employee accused of harassing<br />
another employee outside of work hours would have a clear link<br />
to that employee’s employment as the conduct impacts another<br />
employee. Another example is an employee who, while driving<br />
their employer’s branded work vehicle outside of work hours, verbally<br />
abuses a member of the public during an instance of road rage.<br />
Social media and the digi-workforce have further blurred the line<br />
between work and employees’ personal lives. Employees should also<br />
be aware that venting frustrations or personal opinions online that<br />
may identify and reflect poorly on their employer may lead to disciplinary<br />
action.<br />
Like with misconduct that occurs at work, it is important the disciplinary<br />
process is fair and follows any prescribed procedural requirements<br />
that are set out in either the employee’s employment agreement<br />
or employer’s policies. This would normally include providing<br />
the employee with full details of the allegations and all other evidence<br />
relied on in support. This could include witness statements, video<br />
footage, photographs, and any other documentation. Any information<br />
relied on by an employer to support the allegations should be<br />
provided. The employee should be advised of their right to seek independent<br />
advice and be provided an opportunity to respond to the<br />
allegations and evidence. Once the employer has fairly considered<br />
the employee’s response, which may include undertaking further<br />
enquiry or clarification of any issues in dispute, the employer is then<br />
entitled to make a decision on whether the allegations have been<br />
KNOW YOUR LAWYER<br />
— JAIME LOMAS<br />
Jaime Lomas is a Director at DTI Lawyers, and alongside<br />
Andrea Twaddle, heads the Employment Law Team.<br />
Jaime has extensive experience in employment law and<br />
dispute resolution. She takes a pragmatic and practical<br />
approach to achieve commercial and workable solutions<br />
for her clients. She is committed to understanding<br />
the issues her clients face and the impact on their<br />
businesses or on them personally. Her working<br />
philosophy is that obtaining a better understanding of<br />
her clients’ needs is key to give them tailored advice<br />
to enable them to achieve their goals and objectives.<br />
With both a specialist Employment Team and a<br />
Commercial/Property Team, Jaime and the team at<br />
DTI are well placed to meet your legal needs and<br />
look forward to working with you.<br />
SPECIALIST LAWYERS | 07 282 0174 | dtilawyers.co.nz<br />
By Jaime Lomas,<br />
Director and Specialist Employment Lawyer, DTI Lawyers<br />
substantiated and what the outcome should be. When it comes to<br />
decision making, the conduct of senior employees outside the workplace<br />
whose duties impact on reputation and integrity of the company<br />
may be more closely scrutinised.<br />
Employers are wise to minimise the risk of ambiguity about what<br />
conduct outside of work might impact on employment, by setting out<br />
clearly what is expected of employees in employment documentation<br />
such as terms or employment, or codes or conduct. Employees<br />
should be put on notice of the potential consequences, including dismissal,<br />
should misconduct outside work brings or could likely bring<br />
the employer’s business into disrepute.<br />
Ordinarily, in instances where an employee’s behaviour could be<br />
seen to damage the employer’s reputation, the potential for damage<br />
rather than actual proof of damage will be enough. Similarly, the<br />
underlying conduct as opposed to the effect of any significant media<br />
attention should be considered. For example, the fact of an employee<br />
having an accident in an employer branded vehicle after hours is<br />
clearly linked to the company, regardless of whether it was reported<br />
in the local paper or social media.<br />
Employers must always ensure the process and outcome is<br />
fair and reasonable in the circumstances. The specialist employment<br />
law team at DTI Lawyers can assist businesses in relation<br />
to all employment matters, including advice on disciplinary<br />
processes and whether an employer can take action for<br />
misconduct occurring outside of work. For any further<br />
information on employment law queries, please<br />
contact the specialist employment team at DTI Lawyers.